Scientists' Blog

The GLOBE Scientists' Blog is an online collaborative effort where scientists associated with GLOBE post their thoughts, comments, and philosophies about a variety of science topics.

The Scientists' Blog is moderated - anonymous comments are not allowed. GLOBE strongly encourages positive and productive discussions to further advance the scientific understanding of all involved with The GLOBE Program.

Blog entries made to the Scientists' blog prior to 2014 can be found in the blog archives. Archived blogs are for reference only and cannot be commented on.

I was born and raised in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. If you’re unfamiliar with this extreme northern region of Michigan, it is meteorologically famous for its snow. Lots of snow. Insane amounts of snow. Sled-from-your rooftop piles of snow (see below image). Driving a car in this winter wonderland is difficult since pavement is merely a rumor on most streets from November through April. While snow provides many anxious driving moments, it is also cherished for creating breathtaking winter landscapes and for providing a wide variety of winter outdoor...

Chances are that if you are reading this blog you are interested in bringing the exciting world of satellites and remote sensing into your classroom. Over the past five decades NASA and NOAA have archived satellite imagery and datasets and there is high interest in educators using these resources from both agencies. However, the challenge to the precollege community over the years has been one of both acquiring the technical skills to retrieve such imagery and data, and having the computer power to acquire and store such large files. The good news is that while aerospace engineers and...

The Palmyra Cove Nature Park is a 250 acre open space in New Jersey. The park is located on the Delaware River about 7 miles north of Philadelphia, PA. You can check the site out by using Google Earth … (40 N, 75 W). There are various land cover types, resulting in varying ecosystems within the park. There is a tidal cove (with wetlands), forest, river/beach, and an Army Corps of Engineers dredge cell. The South Jersey/Eastern Pennsylvania/Delaware region, known as the Delaware Valley, is an interesting and often tricky forecast region, even for the National weather Service (NWS). It has...

Weather fascinates people and it is something we talk about every day. It is interesting to note that we mostly complain about the weather: too cold, too hot, too wet. For some reason, we do not acknowledge the weather when there is a sunny and comfortable day to do outdoor activities. We get quickly disappointed if the weather does not meet the forecast, especially if the forecast was sunny but precipitation falls from the sky. First, what is precipitation? Precipitation is defined as any product of condensation of atmospheric water vapor that falls under...

So, what if I told you that the water you drink today is the same water dinosaurs drank over one hundred million years ago? Yep, the same amount of water has been circulating the globe in what we call “The Hydrologic Cycle” (also known as the Water Cycle). But don’t worry, you will not catch some dinosaur-disease by drinking it. Water in the Hydrologic Cycle has the ability to evaporate from the land and ocean surfaces and travel large distances as water vapor, only to fall down on the ground as precipitation (rain and snow). The same water later travels on the surface as streams and rivers...